Up to $41bn in World Bank climate finance, or nearly 40 per cent of all climate funds disbursed by the Bank over the past seven years, is unaccounted for due to poor record-keeping practices, a new Oxfam report claims.

An audit of the World Bank’s 2017-2023 climate finance portfolio found that between $21bn and $41bn in climate finance went unaccounted for between the time projects were approved and when they closed with no clear public record showing where this money went or how it was used, making any assessment of its impacts impossible.

“The Bank is quick to brag about its climate finance billions, but these numbers are based on what it plans to spend, not on what it actually spends once a project gets rolling,” said Kate Donald, head of Oxfam International’s Washington DC office. "This is like asking your doctor to assess your diet only by looking at your grocery list, without ever checking what actually ends up in your fridge.”

---